Prince George couple walks across country, Highway of Tears, for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

“Every time we wanted to give up, we thought about our children,” Charity said.

As many as six thousand known Indigenous people have gone missing in our country over the last three decades, although it’s possible the number is much higher. For Charity, the issue hits close to home, as the father of her son went missing eleven years ago. Knowing that there are countless others who suffered the same pain she went through when losing someone, she and Cameron were determined to keep going, even when Cameron contracted a severe food-borne illness.

“I didnt want to stop walking, I said that our missing and murdered didnt have the luxury of this so I just told my wife, ‘we’re going to keep going,” Cameron said.

“By the time we got to Montreal he was going into Sepsis so we had to go into the hospital and spend a night there and then Kahnawake, the Mohawk Nation, took us in and kept us safe,” Charity continued.

Sonya Rock and her MMIP encounter

Among the community members joining the walk was Sonya Rock (Matriarch Gitxsan name: Spaalast ), who is a survivor of both an MMIP encounter and residential schools. When she was 23 and living in Vancouver she went out with friends to a bar and initially planned on going home with them, but when it was time to leave she realized her friends left without her, as she stopped to go to the bathroom and was left alone.

“I was stranded there, I remember just seeing the bridge, I said to myself, ‘look, all I have to do is walk across this bridge, walk up a few blocks, walk down a few more blocks, and I’m home,'” Rock explained.

However, Rock would not find herself at home, as the next thing she remembers is waking up in a terrifying situation.

“I was woken up because something cut my leg, and I just remember laying on this couch and seeing this man’s head and his big shoulders […] he was cutting my pants off with these big shears, gardening shears, and he cut my leg while he was doing that.”

Remembering advice from her mother, Rock calmly addressed the man assuring him she would stay with him, but she had to use the bathroom. When she got up she noticed on the coffee table was a cut off sledge hammer and many knives. From the bathroom she was able to flee the house, although running was a challenge with her cut leg and cut pants.

“I just bolted out the door. I left his door open and I ran out, and here I was in the middle of nowhere and I was just thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m in a forest, there’s nothing but forest here.'”

Rock eventually made her way to a highway, where another man in a car pulled over and offered her help. Given the situation she was just in though, Rock said the trauma resulted in her refusing his help.

“I just hollered and screamed and said ‘no, you’re going to kill me,’ and he said ‘all I want to do is help you,’ and I just started screaming’ and then he drove off.”

The man only drove about ten feet in front of her though, before pulling over and again saying he only wanted to help. At this moment Rock believed she was going to be murdered no matter what she did, so feeling defeated, she went into the man’s car. Fortunately the man was well-intentioned and took her home safely without issue.

What needs to change?

Cameron, Charity, and Rock all shared similar beliefs when it came to addressing the issue of MMIP. Among them was the importance of raising awareness.

“It’s really important that Canada know that this is a genocide, it’s a crisis, it needs to stop,” Rock said.

“We have been losing far too many Indigenous people across the country, and it’s the same thing as we crossed the country, it’s the same stories, there’s lack of investigation, it’s the families that are going out there doing the searches that are getting the results,” Charity said.

All three also cited a lack of government action, with Rock saying this is “a continuation of colonialism.” She pointed specifically to the government’s lack of action regarding searching a landfill in Winnipeg for missing Indigenous women. As for Cameron and Charity, they believe the RCMP also needs to take more action not just in the search, but in preventative measures too.

“Our police agencies are charged to protect and serve. That is their mandate, they’re supposed to protect and serve the citizens. And we don’t see that happening, we don’t see the investigations happening. And today, we’re coming together to stand in solidarity. We want to demand justice for our missing and murdered,” Charity said.

Ultimately, this issue is bigger than any individual person, and much like the walk across the country that took everyone’s help, Cameron says helping end the MMIP crisis will also take everyone.

“It wasnt just us, we couldn’t do that (the walk) on our own. It took prayers, it took ceremony, it took every nation,” he said.

by Tommy Osborne

Prince George couple walks across country, Highway of Tears, for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

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